Oracle First Payroll Run - April 2008

Oracle First Payroll RunReleased: April 2008Download the Full Report hereDownload highlights here

We undertook this audit at the request of Atlanta City Council. Employees did not receive direct deposits as expected on January 4th, 2008 - the city's first payroll run from its new Oracle system - and some employees reported not being paid the amounts they expected. The council, in Resolution 08-R-0088, requested an audit review of all issues encountered during the first Oracle payroll run.

We found:

Wachovia Bank failed to inform the city that an error in the payroll file had suspended processing.

The implementation team incorrectly coded the mileage reimbursement rate within the Oracle system as $40 per mile instead of 40¢ per mile, resulting in overpayment of about $375,000 to 18 employees.

Overtime was miscalculated for nearly 1,700 employees due to improper data entry into the Kronos timekeeping system.

Some employees were underpaid due to incomplete time records or classification discrepancies.

The primary source of error in the first payroll run was timekeeping, not the Oracle system. We recommended the city implement automated controls to reduce potential errors in reported hours. Also, we recommended the Controller and the Chief Information Officer work together to devise courses of action to address continuing timekeeping errors in Kronos.